Microsoft Office 365 Backups

Microsoft Office 365 Backups

That stuff’s all backed up, right?

Ah – no. The simple answer is no. UNLESS you set it up… There is some confusion around Microsoft 365’s data retention policy and the common thought is “It’s in the cloud, it must be backed up!”

That is just not the case. Microsoft 365 and SharePoint base data retention policy is 93 days. In other words, if you delete an email, a file or a folder and don’t realize it for over 3 months, it will be gone. Forever.

We have a false sense of security that the cloud is all things to all users. It keeps our stuff in datacenters, right? Those are these huge physical/digital fortresses that are secured, locked down, redundant as hell, impenetrable and therefore immune to hacks and data loss.

It’s Not Just Hackers Who Delete Data

BUT – what if the person doing the “hacking” is one of your people? They may accidentally delete an entire segment of your SharePoint instance. They may accidentally delete the mailbox of a former employee who was there for 12 years and had all kinds of necessary data in their mail account. Contact information that was not synced to a CRM or ERP solution. Heck, you may be HIPAA or SOC compliant and need to keep that email information for 3, 5 or 7 years.

Of course, the true hackers don’t want to delete your data, they just want to leverage its value to extort $50k from you. The ransom of your data is for another post…

The disgruntled former employee. This is a big one. That terminated employee was locked out, right? All accesses were deactivated and accounts in your Domain’s Active Directory all well-managed and controlled. Mailboxes were stored and all data files were locked down to make sure only right people had full, appropriate permitted access after their departure.

Issue is, there are potentially other current employees who knew that person quite well and may be somehow motivated to remove some of their old files or a mailbox – just to do them a favor.

Cloud Data Backup is Essential

The point is, the reasons for protections are many. Enable a backup there in the cloud fortress – contact us to do just that. It is relatively simple to do and not a lot of money. Take a look at our Backup and Disaster Recovery offerings or give us a call today!

Reach out to Beringer today!

Beringer Technology Group, a leading Microsoft Gold Certified Partner specializing in Microsoft Dynamics 365 and CRM for Distribution also provides expert Managed IT Services, Backup and Disaster Recovery, Cloud Based Computing, Email Security Implementation and Training, Unified Communication Solutions, and Cybersecurity Risk Assessment.